Book Review: THINNER by Stephen King (as Richard Bachman) **** out of *****

The last book to be published under the Richard Bachman pseudonym before it was revealed that Bachman is actually Stephen King, Thinner is the closest in tone and subject matter to what is usually considered a “Stephen King” book than the rest of the Bachman books. It is the only Bachman book to feature a supernatural threat - the overweight protagonist Billy Halleck, after accidentally running down an old gypsy woman, is cursed by her father, and starts losing weight at an unnatural and fatal rate -  and it has more dark humor than any other Bachman novel. It is a brilliant, harrowing, often funny, and brutally dark tale of suspense.

Here King is at his most effective, with honey-smooth prose and impeccable storytelling. It is a testament to King’s ability as a writer that a book with a concept this unpleasant, can be such a pleasure to read. This is King at his absolute best, and it is arguably the second best Bachman book, right behind The Long Walk.

It is a great loss to the world of literature that Bachman was outed as Stephen King, as King seemed to be having a blast writing under an alias, with his writing darker and more energetic than in many of his works under his own name.

King later published two other books under the Richard Bachman alias (with the heading “Stephen King writing as Richard Bachman”), The Regulators and Blaze, but they didn’t really feel like vintage Bachman. So do yourself a favor and grab a copy of the out-of-print edition of The Bachman Books that includes Rage, and a copy of Thinner. You won’t regret it.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

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